The Attitude of the Father's Love
Greeting, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we will ponder the attitude of the Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Attitude of the Father's Love
Jesus said, ". . . Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." Matthew, Chapter 3, Verse 5.
Brothers and sisters, it is our attitude towards a given situation, urge, or problem that determines our
actions. Behavior follows attitude. It is not the other way around. When we attempt to change our
behavior without first changing our attitude, the result is failure. This happens because we may not
be fully invested in making the decision. An attempt at behavior change requires constant vigilance
and force to maintain the desired behavior. And at some point these conscious efforts of behavior
change without attitude change fail. The undesired behavior will manifest itself or the unchanged
attitude will manifest itself in some other undesirable form of behavior.
We seek to actualize in human experience the attitude of our selves. By our power to choose and
make decisions, we create a new reality that is reflective of the attitude behind it. The decision that
we make will depend on the quality of our attitude behind the decision. If our attitude is good, then
the reality of the decision will be good. But if on the other hand, if the quality of our attitude is evil,
then the reality of the decision will be evil.
To change our attitude toward a given issue, we must first know the truth of the issue, must then
desire to embrace the truth, and must finally acquire the power to live it. Only then does our attitude
change. Consequently, our behavior changes. But how do we come to know the truth of a given
situation?
Ever must any consideration of truth perception be correlated with the degree of our acquired
spiritual perfection. At the very beginning of our spiritual journey, our truth perception is not likely
to be very great. Thus, our attitude at any given moment will be only relatively true. Our discernment
of true meanings and spiritual values at all times is likely to be something other than perfect.
Our attitude will reflect this immaturity. As we mature spiritually, our capacity for truth discernment
increases. Prior to being born again, our experiences teach us that our attitude is in error. We thus
learn by trial and error until such time as a desire is born within for the truth. When we learn truth
by trial and error, we have not been born again, for the new birth signals a superhuman perception
of truth.
The laws of the spiritual universe are "ask and you shall receive;" "knock and the door shall be
opened." As soon as we desire to know the truth, desire to do the Father's will, we become endowed
with the ability to choose according to the truth. In any given situation, we not only choose the right
choice, but know the truth of that choice even as we experience it. This discernment signifies that
we have been born again, been born of the Truth Spirit of the Son. After we are born again, we have
relative true insight into a given situation at any moment of experience. This level of growth is
reflective of the conscious pursuit of the Father's will.
The conscious pursuit of the Father's will is characterized by the consciousness of love--truth,
beauty, and goodness. The consciousness of love creates a righteous attitude. With an attitude of
love, and a will empowered to choose and recognize truth, we will choose a behavior that is also
righteous. When we are born again, we are constantly adjusting our attitude to higher and higher
levels of love. In our prayer life, we increasingly elevate our attitude to the transforming embrace
of the Father's attitude. This practice gradually changes our attitude away from self toward the
attitude of the divine self. And the attitude of the divine self is always the attitude of love.
When we display the attitude of love, our attitude is always that of the Father, and we view all such
problems, situations, and other brothers and sisters as the Father views them. We only have a
Fatherly affection for our erring brothers and sisters. Not only do we see our brothers' and sisters'
actual state, but we also perceive their future rebirth, the birth of the spirit. We are not seriously
affected by the evil in the world. We know that good will eventually overcome all evil. We
constantly display love, faith, goodness, gentleness, meekness, temperance, long-suffering, peace,
and joy--the fruits of the spirit. And we do this in spite of the temporal and material ups and downs
of our material life. The display of these spiritual qualities in the face of the material ups and downs
is the evidence that we are experiencing a different reality other than the material one, and further
that this different reality is spiritual, eternal, and superior.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of the Father's attitude of love. We
hope you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until
next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Attitude of the Father's Love
